Subject: Penzey's Baked Potato Soup? [and sub-thread]
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
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From: Jill McQuown
Date: Sun, 17 Dec 2006 22:53:18 -0600
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I noticed the recipe in the most recent Penzey's catalog. Has anyone tried
it?
You know me, I adore soup. I'd have to halve the recipe, though. Soup for
12 is excessive even for moi.
Baked Potato Soup
5 lbs. russet baking potatoes (6 large bakers)
1/2 lb. bacon
3 Cups 2% milk
1 stick butter or margarine
3 Cups onion, minced
7-1/2 Cups chicken stock (or 1 heaping TB. CHICKEN SOUP BASE dissolved in
7-1/2 Cups water)
1/2 - 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. THYME
1 TBS. PARSLEY
1/4 tsp. CAYENNE PEPPER
1 tsp. salt (optional)
Preheat oven to 350F. Wash and dry potatoes, poke with a fork, and bake for
1 hour and 15 minutes until soft. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for
1 hour to speed up the cooling. Remove the skins and coarsely chop the
potatoes. Set aside. Finely chop the bacon and fry until crispy. Drain the
bacon on paper toweling and set aside. Let the milk come to room
temperature. Place 1½ Cups of chopped potatoes into a blender. Blend or mash
with a little water to make the potatoes thin, yet smooth and creamy. In a
large, heavy pot, melt the margarine or butter over medium-low heat. Add the
onions and cook until they are soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. In a
separate pan, heat the chicken broth to boiling. Using a wooden spoon,
gradually mix the flour into the onion mixture. Continue stirring mixture
for 3 minutes. Do not brown. While stirring the mixture, slowly add the rest
of the chicken broth to the onion mixture. Next, add the potato puree. Mix
well. Lower the heat to simmer and cook for 30 minutes. Stir often to avoid
scorching on the bottom. Add milk, PARSLEY, THYME, CAYENNE, salt, PEPPER,
and the remaining chopped potatoes. Cover and simmer another 30 minutes,
stirring often. If soup is too thick, thin with more milk. Add ¾ of the
crisp bacon and mix well. Serve garnished with the remaining bacon, cheddar
cheese, and CHIVES, if desired.
Serves: 10-12
Prep. time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
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From: Alexis
Date: 17 Dec 2006 20:57:55 -0800
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Thanks, Jill!
I, too, am a soup fanatic -- and we have several months remaining in
"serious soup season"! Saved for making over the holiday break (four
more student days, one additional teacher day after that, then 2 weeks
of R&R).
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From: kilikini
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 07:54:29 -0500
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Ooooooh, that sounds pretty good, Jill. I may have to try that, sans
cayenne, of course. :~) Thanks for posting!
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 15:02:17 GMT
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Jill McQuown wrote:
> I noticed the recipe in the most recent Penzey's catalog. Has anyone
> tried it?
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, sounds good.
Might have to tee it up for winter :-)
Although it seems to be lacking some roasted garlic!!
*BUT*......... can someone please tell me how much a "stick" of butter
is?? (in grams if it's not too much bother ;-)
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From: jay
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:52:56 GMT
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PeterL wrote:
> *BUT*......... can someone please tell me how much a "stick" of butter
> is?? (in grams if it's not too much bother ;-)
A stick of butter is 1/4 lb = 113.4 grams...but then again we also have 1
lb sticks = 453.592 grams.
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 16:00:50 GMT
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jay wrote:
> A stick of butter is 1/4 lb = 113.4 grams...but then again we also have 1
> lb sticks = 453.592 grams.
And Nancy2 said you have 8oz sticks??!!
How many different sized bloody sticks *do* you have???!!
And what is standard.
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From: jay
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:16:34 GMT
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PeterL wrote:
> And Nancy2 said you have 8oz sticks??!!
I have not seen an 8 oz stick. 1/4 lb is what most recipes would refer to
as a stick. Recipe writers should use measurements not jargon.
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From: Nancy2
Date: 18 Dec 2006 09:52:51 -0800
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PeterL wrote:
> And Nancy2 said you have 8oz sticks??!!
Oops. Sorry, Peter, 4 oz., not 8. I was thinking in tablespoons, not
ounces. 1/4 lb. = 4 oz. = 4 of them make up a pound, in the US.
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From: Sheldon
Date: 18 Dec 2006 07:35:38 -0800
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Jill wrote:
> I noticed the recipe in the most recent Penzey's catalog. Has anyone tried
> it?
>
> Baked Potato Soup
>
> 1/2 lb. bacon
> 3 Cups 2% milk
> 1 stick butter or margarine
2% milk between all that bacon and butter... hilarious.
I don't consider that a soup... more a greezy gravy.
Penzeys should stick to selling spices, most of their recipes are sad.
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From: jay
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:07:37 GMT
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Sheldon wrote:
> Penzeys should stick to selling spices, most of their recipes are sad.
I've seen several that looked like they would be great, but haven't tried
any. Have you tried any of them? Penzeys is looking for a retail location
in our town and I'm looking forward to checking them out when they arrive.
We get a good supply of herbs and spices in the bulk departments at several
of our local grocers that are priced nicely. I bought a nice bunch of bay
leaves the other day at one of them and the price was 16 cents. We have
given Penzeys products as gifts only.
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From: Steve Wertz
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:54:37 GMT
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jay wrote:
> I bought a nice bunch of bay
> leaves the other day at one of them and the price was 16 cents.
Yep. I've never bought any amount of bay leaves at CM that was
more than $.16. Sometimes I have to get more because they won't
even register on the scale.
And green cardamom, $.37 for about 50 pods.
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Subject: Soup Recipes (was Re: Penzey's Baked Potato Soup?)
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
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From: Nancy2
Date: 18 Dec 2006 07:26:42 -0800
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PeterL wrote:
> *BUT*......... can someone please tell me how much a "stick" of butter
> is?? (in grams if it's not too much bother ;-)
I dunno grams - a stick is 8 oz. of butter.
Here's my baked potato soup recipe which is terrific, but big on
calories, so I don't make it more than once a year:
Baked Potato Soup Nancy Dooley
4 large potatoes
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1-1/2 quarts milk
4 green onions, chopped
1 cup sour cream
2 cups crisp cooked, crumbled bacon
5 ounces cheddar cheese, grated
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake the potatoes until fork tender. Melt
butter in a medium saucepan. Slowly blend in flour with a wire whisk
until thoroughly blended. Gradually add milk to the butter flour
mixture, whisking constantly. Whisk in salt and pepper and simmer over
low heat, stirring constantly. Cut potatoes in half, scoop out the meat
and set aside. When milk mixture is very hot, whisk in potato. Add
green onion. Whisk well, add sour cream and crumbled bacon. Heat
thoroughly. Add cheese a little at a time until all is melted in.
(Green onion and bacon bits can be added at serving, as a garnish on
top.)
And a bonus recipe:
Cream of Chicken Soup with Wild Rice Nancy Dooley
(8 servings according to recipe, but more like 18
it makes A LOT!)
8 oz. uncooked wild rice (1 1/3 C.)
1 3 ½ pound fryer chicken, cut up (I used 4 ½ lbs. of "Pick of the
Chick."
7 C. water
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
2 T. cooking oil
1 C. chopped onion
1 C. chopped celery
2 T. instant chicken bouillon granules
3/4 tsp. white pepper (I put in a tad more than that)
½ tsp. salt (I didn't add any extra because of the bouillon)
½ C. butter
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
4 C. milk
3/4 C. dry white wine
Rinse and drain wild rice 3 or 4 times and then cook according to pkg.
directions for 40 minutes; drain off liquid and rinse thoroughly. Set
aside.
In a large saucepan, combine the chicken and water. Bring to boiling,
reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from broth and let stand until cook enough to handle.
Skim fat from broth. Strain and reserve broth. Remove chicken meat
from bones. Cut into bite-size pieces. In the same saucepan, cook
celery and onion in hot oil for 4-5 minutes; add mushrooms and cover
and cook for 5 to 10 minutes or until everything is tender, stirring
now and then. Remove from heat. Return the broth to the saucepan.
Add the partially cooked wild rice to the chicken broth mixture. Stir
in the bouillon granules, white pepper and salt. Bring to boiling.
Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.In a large separate
saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in flour until it all clings together
and is smooth. Add the milk all at once and stir and cook until it's
bubbly and thick. Add some hot broth mixture to the white sauce
mixture and stir until smooth; return all to the broth mixture. Stir
in the chicken pieces and the white wine. Heat through. Makes 8
servings.
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 15:59:50 GMT
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Nancy2 wrote:
> I dunno grams - a stick is 8 oz. of butter.
Cool. Thanks for that.
227g's.
> Here's my baked potato soup recipe which is terrific, but big on
> calories, so I don't make it more than once a year:
>
> Baked Potato Soup Nancy Dooley
>
> Cream of Chicken Soup with Wild Rice Nancy Dooley
Holy Dooley Nancy!!
I'll certainly be trying the potato soup as soon as it gets cold here.
And bugger the calories!!
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From: kilikini
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:32:56 -0500
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PeterL wrote:
> Holy Dooley Nancy!!
>
> I'll certainly be trying the potato soup as soon as it gets cold here.
>
> And bugger the calories!!
I'm with you on that one Peter! It sounds wonderful.
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 22:44:33 GMT
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kilikini wrote:
> I'm with you on that one Peter! It sounds wonderful.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, comfort food :-)
I'll be doing the roasted potato soup with the Irish Soda bread.
It's suppposed to be summer here, the days are quite warm but the nights
are *damn* cool!! Have to enjoy it while we can.
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From: Ravenlynne
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:50:57 -0500
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PeterL wrote:
> Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, comfort food :-)
>
> I'll be doing the roasted potato soup with the Irish Soda bread.
>
> It's suppposed to be summer here, the days are quite warm but the nights
> are *damn* cool!! Have to enjoy it while we can.
How odd. It's summer here in Virgina. There is no excuse for 71
degrees in December.
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 23:11:37 GMT
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Ravenlynne wrote:
> How odd. It's summer here in Virgina.
LOL!!! No white Christmas for you then!!
>There is no excuse for 71
> degrees in December.
Hmmmmm, 71F is about 22C.......
http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDQ10095.shtml
Looks like we have similar weather/temps at the moment.
Also looks like we're going to have a wet Christmas :-/
What's the temp (in Virginia) usually at this time of year??
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From: Zilbandy
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:54:41 -0700
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Nancy2 wrote:
>I dunno grams - a stick is 8 oz. of butter.
A stick of butter is 4 ounces, not 8. 1 US stick of butter =
118.294119 milliliters according to Google search.
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 22:40:46 GMT
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Zilbandy wrote:
> A stick of butter is 4 ounces, not 8. 1 US stick of butter =
> 118.294119 milliliters according to Google search.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wonder if my scales will get that .294119 right ;-)
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From: Zilbandy
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 15:54:31 -0700
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PeterL wrote:
>Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm, wonder if my scales will get that .294119 right ;-)
Well, only if you buy the really, really good scale. :)
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From: PeterL
Date: 18 Dec 2006 22:59:58 GMT
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Zilbandy wrote:
> Well, only if you buy the really, really good scale. :)
Off to the Atomic Laboratory I go!!
(Or maybe I'll just find a Crack dealer somewhere .....!!! ;-)
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From: sf
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 11:04:17 -0800
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Nancy2 wrote:
>Baked Potato Soup Nancy Dooley
I baked up some extra potatoes the other day thinking I'd figure out
what to do with them. This looks good! I might add clams and corn to
it.
:)
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From: kilikini
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:36:10 -0500
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sf wrote:
> I baked up some extra potatoes the other day thinking I'd figure out
> what to do with them. This looks good! I might add clams and corn to
> it.
Sounds like good additions to me!
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From: Gloria Puester
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 23:04:24 GMT
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Nancy2 wrote:
> I dunno grams - a stick is 8 oz. of butter.
Look again, Nancy. A stick is 1/4 lb. or 4 oz.
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From: StephanieM
Date: 18 Dec 2006 16:05:19 -0800
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You know, every recipe of Penzey's I have tried, I have liked.
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From: Goomba38
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:10:44 -0500
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StephanieM wrote:
> You know, every recipe of Penzey's I have tried, I have liked.
me too. But I've learned to snag them quickly because the website
doesn't archive every one they print in their catalogs.